Monday, March 3, 2008

Talktime India

When you are in the Sam land, on the most frequent activities that each of us does is "call India". If its a weekend especially (arre yaar, aaj toh sunday morning hoga, aaram se ghar baath karr sakte hain fir).

I initially started out on a service recommended by a friend (uspcard.com), later the site closed down and I started using Reliance (like most people do). I was also invited to another service (Stanacard). But I was quite contended with Reliance and so didn't see any point in a switch.

I have now moved to Texas (from Missouri) and some folks recommended the services of VOIP(Voice over IP). Now I absolutely loath the idea of having a headset,mic thingy and talk to India, so I was quite skeptical about the whole idea.

I tried out the VOIP thing though(www.nonoh.net). Being cautious I started out with just an investment of 13$ on the initial talktime .

You just need your cellphone to talk to India over here(Also the party you are talking to at the other end just needs a phone,either cell/landline). The phone is something which is much more common in India still than gtalk,yahoo ids. Also people in India aren't logged in 24*7 to their user accounts like some folks over here I know are ;)
This ultimately meant that I could now talk to India( dirt cheap i.e. 3c/min) and also not feel like a call center employee( bbye Mr.Headset n Mr.Mic) while doing so.

Voice clarity and other details like connectivity etc. were fine. I have used this service for a week now. But of course there is a downside to this. Whoever is doing the calling over here has to initiate the call through the site.

So if you are on the move then I would say you are better of using Reliance,Stanacard etc. But if you are looking for a leisurely long chat then VOIP is the way to go.

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with any VOIP sites, nor am I getting a commission from them. I am just a consumer of this great service.

3 comments:

Shubhika said...

good suggestion....The cheaper the calls the better it is for people like me who clall home every single day...btw like the name of the blog..impressive

Praveen Krishnan said...

Man...

I still think Reliance is the best, even if it means paying a bit more than the other service providers. This nonoh looks like a big pain, what you having to be near the computer to make a call. Really doesnt make sense....Anyday, I would prefer Reliance just for the flexibility even if I have to shell out more! Yeah I do call home everyday!!! :-) Shubhika, you will change your opinion, if you are not provided the freedom to be away from comp!!!

Shrek said...

@ shubhika
Let me know if you find an cheaper alternative ;)

@ gk
oh yeah man..reliance is def the undisputed king right now in the india calling market....the idea however is just about trying something new and just MAYBE soon getting used to it too..:)...